


Crown of Light

by potatoscribbles



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 01:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13987272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potatoscribbles/pseuds/potatoscribbles
Summary: Chiaki didn’t know what a soulmate is, or what love is. He is determined to find out.





	Crown of Light

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone! kimm here, also known as potatoscribbles. it's been a while hasn't it (cries), but here is a soulmate au of my best boys in the fandom. although there is constant debate that chiaki is older than kuro, this fic makes it so kuro's older ^^' but I hope you enjoy this all the same. this fic is also featured in Infinity: An Ensemble Stars Rarepair Zine! be sure to check it out @esrarepairzine on twitter to see other beautiful rarepairs!

What is a soulmate? Chiaki was always curious to know: is a soulmate the same as a lover or could they be mutually exclusive? In this world where soulmates are charted like the stars. Wavelengths of light crown around the body like a carousel that vary in different frequencies. Low frequencies span in long waves from the torso to the shoulder, alluring the host in a hue of red scarlet while high frequencies were short and condensed, wrapping solely on the hip and ravishing the host in a royal purple. The unique pattern, created with a mix of high and low frequencies, emit rare colors that leave this world to an infinite number of possibilities.

But like a lit candlestick in the night, one could only be so far from their soulmate to feel the warmth of their burning light. To be near their soulmate and be able to create affection will cause the illumination of the intimate bond the two share. Apart, their wavelengths will dissipate and they walk alongside each other normally. It’s in these fleeting moments where one could converse with another will each other’s wavelength patterns be revealed. If a soulmate was simply defined by the identical wavelength pattern after one’s eighteenth birthday, Chiaki wanted to face the universe and find someone to fall in love with before he came of age. Why should his love be predetermined by some unknown force when he couldn’t understand the basic mechanisms of what love is to begin with?

Chiaki contemplated this idea as he gazed at the school from the rooftop. With his birthday approaching, he clenched the railing and sighed. “Ah, I want to love someone already!” The sun beamed on him, prompting dews of sweat to coat his neck and curling the tips of his hair. Resting his jaw on the palm of his hand, he pouted as he watched the trail of gingko trees release their leafs and fall to create a golden yellow river.

Sitting back on the ground, he dug into his backpack and pulled paper and a pen from it. “I’ve decided to ignore fate and those other weird things!” Writing a feign spell wrapped in the singular word of _love_ , Chiaki placed a wish with his feelings. He then sharply folded his paper like origami, turning it into a plane with the edges perked up like jet wings. “The person who receives this airplane will be the one I love!” He launched his airplane, scoffing to himself. “Just kidding. Honestly, what am I doing?”

He watched the plane drove up into the air, looping into a circle, and swerving side to side, driving into the mass of students who were entering the school. Chiaki quickly noticed who picked up his airplane by his vibrant red hair. He dashed downstairs, the stomps in his footsteps echoing the hallways. By the time he caught sight of the other, he was already at the shoe lockers, getting ready to start the day. “Hey Kiryuu! I see you got my airplane!”

The older was Kuro Kiryuu. Although he seemed malicious, he was kind and a dear friend to Chiaki. Finding that he was the one the plane had picked made Chiaki’s heart skip out of rhythm. _It was almost_ _too_ _convenient_. “Morisawa” he called, “You seem pretty lively this morning.” He handed the younger the airplane, their hands touching slightly, forcing Chiaki to glow with a rosy tint and yank his arm away.

The airplane shot down the hall, causing Chiaki to cough. “And there it goes again” he told as he rushed to retrieve it, his body teetering side to side. Kuro tried to reach out to him, but pulled his hand back and observed him leave. Entering the classroom with his airplane, Chiaki tossed it onto his desk as a sigh escaped him. Kuro was a close friend of his and he admired the man quite greatly. He got nervous being around him, but would that warrant him to be his lover? Chiaki’s mind swarmed with these thoughts that he didn’t notice anyone enter the classroom.

“Hey Moricchi,” Kaoru called. “What are you doing?”

Chiaki, in a daze, swayed back and forth in his seat. “Hakaze, I’m just trying to figure out how you would come to like someone.”

“Wouldn’t you want to figure out if you’re compatible with them?”

“Is there such a thing?”

“Hmm, there are plenty of things. Body language, vocal tone, ah— one of the girls I was hanging out with downtown gave this to me. It has an article you might be interested in.” Reading over the magazine, Chiaki shuffled through the pages at a tremendous speed. A swirling wind of hot air flurried out the pages with Chiaki’s burning passion to research everything that it had on astrology and blood types. Kaoru’s brows furrowed as he observed Chiaki’s intense interest. “Hey, I can feel the speed of that magazine all the way from here” he called.

“Sorry, sorry. This is just really interesting! Do you really believe this?” He leaned back in his seat, outstretching the magazine on top of him as he faced the ceiling. An image of Kuro appeared in his head before he waved his hand side to side in front of his face. _Impossible_. His eyes blinked when he noticed a compatibility chart for both his zodiac and blood type. Observing and matching others to his own full-fledged natal chart, he analyzed that he could work fairly well with other blood type O’s as well as those who were under Aquarius, Scorpio, or Cancer.

“I don’t know why you care so much, won’t you find out your soulmate soon—”

Before he could respond, Chiaki dashed out of his classroom, bombarding 3-B like a bulldozer as he threw the door open. “Hey Kiryuu! I saw this really cool article!” Slamming his hands on Kuro’s desk, Chiaki grinned at him with his smile stretching from cheek to cheek, his eyes beaming with the light of exploding stars. “Tell me your horoscope and blood type!”

He glanced at Chiaki, his face stoic. “Aquarius. Type O.”

“Eh?” Chiaki paused, a little taken back. The other’s voice was nonchalant, unfazed by the younger’s typical outburst and fireball personality. But Chiaki’s heart turned over itself, back flipping into the cavern of his chest. “I swear I thought you were Pisces” he stuttered, his tongue fumbling his own words, “I came with the wrong horoscope.” Taking a step back, Chiaki turned on his heel and stampeded out of the room. “I’ll be right back!” Kuro watched him leave, a soft smile brightened his face, as he went back to focus on his work.

Landing back into the hallway, Chiaki kneeled over. His heart continued to roll like a puppy over a chew toy. He could feel the speed of his heart creating the rushing blood that painted over his face. Standing up, he tried to regain his composure, slapping his face to bring him back to his senses. He headed back to his classroom, ignoring the little feeling that kept sprouting in his heart.

Yet over the next weeks, Chiaki would find himself running into Kuro more often than before his whole love fiasco. From buying the same flavored drinks in the cafeteria to bumping into each other in front of the shoe lockers every morning, Kuro would call out to him. Wherever his eyes would trail, Kuro would be there.

Drained, Chiaki spent his time alone as he laid down on the school’s rooftop, his body soaking in the afternoon sunlight. As the wind brushed against his face, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh. He reached out to the sky where the light shined between his fingers, staring blankly. “Morisawa, what’s wrong?” Chiaki glanced behind him, his eyes catching a view of Kuro turned upside down in his peripheral. “You’ve been acting weird lately.” Chiaki stiffly shot up as if lightning had surged through his spine, standing before Kuro in a cold sweat. He leaned on the wall, releasing a soft sigh.

“Hey Kiryuu, love—what is it?”

Kuro raised a brow, tilting his head slightly as he stared at the younger. Rubbing the back of his neck, he turned away, staring off into the distance. “Ah, I see. Your birthday is in a few days. Of course you’re curious about that stuff, huh?” He glanced down at Chiaki, his face riddled with a blank expression that the other could not decipher. “Have you come to love someone?”

Chiaki choked on a forced laugh, his voice almost booming with the sudden impact. “Me? Love? That’s why I was asking you!” The strain in his throat scratched at the words he was trying to fathom. “Soulmates and love, I keep trying to figure it out, but I just don’t get it. All this fate stuff that’s determined for me: it doesn’t feel right! Where’s the justice!” Kuro covered his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to suppress a chuckle as Chiaki got fired up with his own feelings. “People should be love out of their own free will!”

He caught Kuro’s eyes, the shimmering green that burned like melted jade was cut thin under the shadows of his faintly dark circles. He was a friend whom he admired for years, but it was becoming so different now. The way his heart beat like a marching symphony in his chest, the way he could look into his eyes and feel like he was entering a diamond where the stone was cut so much he could see nothing but light: he yearned for Kuro. When he was thinking about his future of finding his soulmate, he was searching for that future in hopes that Kuro would be the one beside him. He depicted Kuro in his future, but he couldn’t tell if the other felt the same and that horrified him.

Chiaki’s eyes broke away from Kuro’s, gazing back down at his hands. Fidgeting on the bandage wrap on his fingers, he couldn’t look back at Kuro. “I’m scared. What happens if I walk up to the person I love, only to find out it’s not them? What if I find my soulmate: will that love be my own or because it’s fate?” His hands began to shake, his vision blurring, as he tried to focus on the lines that stitched the palm of his hands. He closed his eyes while his hands curled into fists. While he spent his time chasing after Kuro, always looking at him as an idol, a friend, and even something more, a feeling of dread soaked into his bones. He could be in love with him and in a blink of an eye, he won’t because it might be someone else. He didn’t want anyone else.

These feelings seemed to pour out of him as the color flushed from his face. The weight of his fear pulled his voice down to his stomach, his lungs churning as if he was choking on air. Flowing with the younger’s silence, Kuro caressed his left hand, making Chiaki to open his eyes and gaze upon his hands. Wrapped around his pinky was a small bow created from red, sewing string. “Morisawa, you’re a reliable guy, a real man who gives his all in everything. You’re thinking way too much about it. I don’t think this world was made for love to be an obligation, so you should just continue to love the way you see it.” He reached out his hand, interlocking his pinky with Chiaki’s. “When things get rough, you can rely on me as I have done with you in the past.”

His lips quivered as his smile turned into a crescent moon. His eyes beamed with light again as he held his fist over his heart. “You’re right, Kiryuu! When trouble lands in front of me, there’s no way I can just retreat and think it impossible. Being able to overcome a crisis is what being a hero is really about!”

Chiaki’s voice thundered, his laugh blaring and pulling Kuro into a chuckle himself. He broke away from Chiaki, his hand resting on his head and patting lightly. “I’m glad you’re back to your usual self.” His face brushed into a light pink as if the warmth from Kuro’s hand transferred to his cheeks, but as he caught the sight of Kuro’s closed-eyed smile, he had accepted that this feeling that flurried in his chest was love.

❤ ❤ ❤

On the day of his birthday, Chiaki ran, his feet pushing him off the ground as if wings sprouted from his back and gave him flight. Whether it was a gravitational pull or motivation of his own free will, there was only one person he wanted to see. He found Kuro under the trail of gingko trees, his red hair contrasting with the yellow leafs once more. “Kiryuu—” he called.

The glow of the wavelengths matched perfectly in a vibrant sunset palette. The matching mix of frequencies danced as the light glittered into a crown made of stars as they spun around their bodies. The glow was so bright, they reflected in their eyes and Chiaki was left in awe. His gaze lifted as he stared at Kuro who looked at him warmly, his eyes grown soft as a smile pulled lightly against his cheeks. More than the glow they emitted and more than how his heartbeat matched his, it was the way Kuro stared at Chiaki that made the moment special. “Did you know it was me?” he asked.

“No. Well, not at first.” Kuro pondered a response as his index finger and thumb wrapped around his chin. “Even when I did see our matching wavelengths, it would have been unfair of me to tell you without you seeing it for yourself.” Kuro cupped Chiaki’s face in his hands, pulling him to look into his eyes. “But since you were always trying to talk to me, I was able to see your wavelength. I was lucky.”

The light from the wavelengths reflected in his eyes like a stream of stars in the galaxy. Chiaki closed his eyes tightly in embarrassment, his lips thinning like paper. The older gave a soft laugh, shifting his focus from the other’s lips to promptly kissing his forehead. Chiaki blinked his eyes open at the gesture that missed his expectations, but before he could process a response, Kuro swiftly lifted his face again, kissing him on the lips. The once small flame became an inferno as Chiaki’s face blazed red as far as the tips of his ears while his brows scrunched in confusion. Brows raised, Kuro stared down at the younger’s peculiar reaction, hugging him tightly as another laugh escaped him. He buried his face in the nape of Chiaki’s neck, his voice becoming a low whisper. The sound of their dashing heartbeats gradually became gentle, the harmonization growing into a tranquility. “I’m glad it was you.”


End file.
